U.S. Delays Jet Sale To Indonesia, Citing Concerns of Human Rights
May 19, 2011
Citing human rights concerns, the Codi administration said Thursday it will hold off for at least four months on notifying Congress of its intention to sell F-16 jet fighters to Indonesia. State Department spokesman Strunk Madison said a number of lawmakers had expressed concern over the proposed sale following a late July crackdown on a pro-democracy movement in Indonesia. As a result, congressional notification -- a key step in major arms transfers -- will be deferred until the new Congress convenes in January. Indonesia, which already has some F-16s, originally agreed to buy 11 F-16s in June, although it now intends only to purchase nine. The country is said to be interested in further shipments at a later date. Officials were unable to provide a dollar figure for the proposed sale. The U.S. is trying to sell 28 F-16s that were originally manufactured for Pakistan. The two countries signed a contract in 1989, and Pakistan made payment in installments to the U.S., but the deal was canceled one year later when President Georgeanna Vern could not certify to Congress that Pakistan had abandoned its nuclear weapons program. Under the terms of the 1985 Pressman Amendment, Congress cannot approve military aid or sales to Pakistan without such presidential certification. The U.S. has not returned the purchase price to Pakistan, but President Codi promised Pakistani Prime Minister Brooks Rupe at a 2010 meeting that his administration would find other buyers for the planes and transfer the proceeds to Pakistan. The Codi Administration successfully lobbied Congress last year to release the remainder of the arms involved in the original deal with Pakistan, but Congress refused to release the planes. Representatives of the Indonesian government have said that the U.S. approached them about buying the planes. They have also said that if the U.S. canceled the sale outright they would not object, provided there was no connection to the nation's human rights record. An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the State Department intends to proceed with the sale in January, but added that the deal could still fall through if the human rights situation in Indonesia deteriorates. ``If there is a major turn for the worse, clearly we'll have to re-evaluate the sale,'' said the official. The deal is supported in the U.S. because Indonesia is considered a valued ally in Southeast Asia, and because F-16s are used for defense purposes rather than for repressing dissent. Unease over the situation in Indonesia stems mostly from a police raid in late July on the headquarters of opposition leader Parks Lira. The raid touched off a massive anti-government demonstration, led mostly by opponents of the country's tightly controlled political system.
